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Sun Fire™ 38006800 Servers Dynamic Reconfiguration

Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR) is a key component of the Solaris™ Operating
Environment (Solaris OE). By using DR, hardware components can be added or
removed from a system with minimal interruption. DR increases the overall uptime
and availability of systems. While using DR for system upgrades, modifications,
or service actions, the Solaris OE and user applications remain operating.

This document contains the following sections about DR:

A general overview of DR

DR implementation on Sun Fire™ 38006800 servers

Best-practice guidelines for DR and command line procedures

DR Overview

To use DR on Sun Fire 38006800 servers, the domain must be running a
minimum version of the Solaris OE and a minimum version of the firmware on the
Sun Fire server system controller (Sun Fire SSC). These minimum versions
are:

Solaris 8 02/02 OE release (on the domain)

ScApp 5.12.6 and RTOS 19 (on the Sun Fire SSC)

DR is automatically enabled on the domain with Solaris 8 02/02 OE release.
The Sun™ Management Center (Sun MC) software includes a graphical user interface
(GUI) for DR operations in its DR module. This module is provided in the Sun
Management Center 3.0 update 4 software release, which is included in the
Solaris 8 OE 02/02 release. The cfgadm(1M) command is the command line
interface (CLI) for DR on the domains.

DR is performed on attachment points, which consists of two objects: a
receptacle and an occupant. The state of the attachment point refers to the
condition of the receptacle and occupant. You can use the cfgadm(1M)
command or the Sun MC DR module to retrieve the status of attachment points,
occupants, and receptacles, along with their condition. The Sun Fire
38006800 servers support the following attachment points:

I/O assembly (PCI/cPCI assemblies)

CPU/Memory boards

cPCI cards

System memory

CPUs

Dynamic attachment points are attachment points that are on base attachment
points. Dynamic attachment points do not have to support the same DR operations
as their base attachment points. On the , the CPU/Memory boards, I/O
assemblies, and cPCI cards are base attachment points.

Connecting and Disconnecting Attachment Points

You can connect or disconnect attachment points. When you connect an
occupant, its hardware is connected to the interconnect, and its OpenBoot™ PROM
structures are created. The DR software performs the power-on self-test (POST)
if it is supported by the occupant. In the connected state, the occupant is not
available to the Solaris OE. When you disconnect an occupant, it is removed from
the interconnect, and after powering off, it is ready for removal.

Configuring and Unconfiguring Attachment Points

You can configure or unconfigure attachment points. When you configure an
occupant, the device tree structures are created, and the occupant is available
to the Solaris OE. When you unconfigure an occupant, the device tree structures
are removed, and the occupant is not usable to the Solaris OE.

DR on Domains

The support multiple domains. You can allocate resources to the domains on a
board level by assigning or unassigning them to or from domains by using DR
operations. In addition, you can use DR operations on the domain or on the Sun
Fire SSC to make an attachment point (for example, a CPU/Memory board or I/O
assembly) available to the domain.

Attachment Point States for CPU/Memory Boards and I/O Assemblies

You can change the state of CPU/Memory boards or I/O assemblies by using Sun
Fire SSC and DR commands. FIGURE 1 shows the different states of a board or
assembly, from the perspective of DR on the Sun Fire SSC.

TABLE 1 Board State Descriptions

The board or assembly is not in the access control list (ACL) or assigned to
another domain.

Available

The board or assembly is listed in the ACL and is not in use by another
domain.

Assigned

The board or assembly is assigned to a domain and is not available to any
other domain.

Active

The board or assembly is being used by the domain.

Changing the State of the Board or Assembly

You can verify the state of the CPU/Memory board or I/O assembly on the Sun
Fire SSC by using the showboards command or by using the DR module in
the Sun MC software (FIGURE 2 shows the attachment points in the CPU board
table). If an attachment point is not assigned to a domain, you can connect or
configure it.

CPU/Memory board and I/O assembly attachment points are implicitly assigned
to a domain as part of a connect or configure operation.

See the "Sample Output From the cfgadm(1M) and
showboards Commands" on page 19 for an example of the typical
output displayed when using the cfgadm(1M) command on the domain and
the showboards command on the Sun Fire SSC.